And with its massive, legendary status today, it’s strange to imagine that it was an afterthought at the studio at the time. Compared to “big” projects of the time like The Little Mermaid, Treasure Planet, The Brave Little Toaster, Hiawatha, and even the WED Signature effort The Hunchback of Notre Dame, it was seen as the “side hustle”, to use the modern vernacular.
Oh what's that hidden in a throwaway sentence? Two more films to look forward too?
Hunchback being a WED Signature Feature means that it will be much closer to the orginal novel and I'm all here for it!
We already knew that there's a Medusa movie in the works that's going to be this Timeline's Hercules, however I didn't expect Pocahontas to get the same treatment! Hiawatha sounds promising and I can't wait to see how it turns out!
By this point, however, Tezuka himself had recently passed away and the studio was in a level of transitional chaos rather reminiscent of how the Old Men tell me things were at Disney when Walt died. We couldn’t come to a workable deal, so we took the ball and moved forward with our own “King of the Jungle” project, giving Tezuka and Kimba an “Inspired by” credit, which his son and heir Makoto
What a shitshow! Jim and the other board members probably felt like they stepped into a timemachine!
The Inspired Credit is a nice touch.
James Earl Jones was a natural for Sundiata’s inspiring but fallible father Mansa (King) Maghan.
Honestly I couldn't see anyone else in the Role either.
Dankaran was voiced as a cub by Brandon Quintin Adams and as an adult by Will Smith.
Will Smith playing a (Semi-) villain?
Can't believe it.
Eddie Murphy cameos as a wise-assed Zebra[2],
I'm thinking its going to be a similar voice to OTLs Shrek, right?
We decided that Sundiata would be a naïve and well-meaning child of privilege who just assumes that the world was a good place and all was in order. This would lead him to be somewhat lazy and entitled, though generally good natured, if particularly vulnerable to rejection given that his whole life, he’s been flattered due to his royal status, and is ignorant of the resentments of his fellow lions and other animals behind the scenes. He would want to just be loved and feel no need to actively change things since “all was as it should be”, and thus when denied love or faced with challenge he would retreat. His character arc would be learning that a) the world isn’t the perfect place that he thought, primarily by learning that his father and the order he maintained was less than perfect, and b) that he had to have confidence in himself and become the instrument of necessary positive change.
A far cry from the idealistic portrayal of both Simba and Mufasa in the OTLs Lion King.
I like it, gives him more character and makes his character growth more noticeable.
So, we begin with his birth. We start the film with the epic, sweeping visuals of the kingdom, set to Ladysmith Black Mambazo’s epic and triumphant “The World Turns”, which spoke of cycles and ecosystems and the circle of life as it were (circles and cycles would be a recurring theme and motif).
Does it still start with the iconic shot of the rising sun?
Flashing forward, Sundiata is living as the Heir Apparent, naïve and shocked and offended by any rejection. He is shown to have a shrunken rear left leg and can only hop or drag himself along, often forcing Maghan to carry him in his mouth as he shows him his kingdom, singing “Duty to the Pride” with him. Almost all of the animals genuflect to Sundiata. But Sundiata is picked on by his older half-brother Dankaran, who takes advantage of Sundiata’s smaller size and limited mobility to bully and assault him, causing most of the other lions to laugh. Only Kolonkan sticks up for Sundiata. Dankaran insists that he is the “true Mansa”, not the “crippled usurper” Sundiata with the “ugly mother”
That's some heavy themes and having a disabled protagonist is groundbreaking for the time.
Sassouma thus tricks Sundiata into luring his father Maghan to the cliffs where Soumaoro confronts and kills him in front of Sundiata, and then Soumaoro, taunting Sundiata for leading his father to his doom (“he died by your paw, not mine!”), chases Sundiata into the path of a stampede of wildebeest. But as Sundiata appears doomed (and Soumaoro assumes him so) he is rescued by his mother Songolon , who charges into the stampede, getting kicked and knocked over, and then flees with him into exile. But she soon dies from wounds sustained from the stampede in a scene that emotionally quotes Bambi’s Mom and the fake death of Baloo
That's a doublewammy if I ever saw one.
Losing both his father and his mother in such a short time and giving yourself the blame for it? What a heavy burden, especially on a child.
Sundiata retreats into the jungle, where he is forced to makes friends “below his station” with “prey” species like Mvivu the meercat and Pumbaa the warthog, who famously sing the Reggae-themed duet “Jamii Jamii”, essentially meaning “community of communities” and speaking of both how there’s a community for him if he wishes, but that in turn he needs to be there for the community, and that different communities need to be there for each other. This is an important concept in many African societies, according to Harry. It is a song famous for introducing the phrase Hakuna Matata, the “no worries” philosophy they follow,
I like how even the silly Hakuna Matata song still ties into the theme of a king being there for his subjects and celebrating communities.
Sundiata notes that he knowns just who to talk to, and leads her to the shifty Shenzi, Banzai, and Kicheko, who’ve had to resort to living on scraps (singing “A Bone to Pick”). He makes peace not just with the hyenas, but with all of the animals of the pride lands.
They reestablish contact with Nounfari and Mvivu and Pumbaa and make plans to take back the pride lands. Together in a montage they build up an army of various animals from shrews to elephants, and as they march forth (singing “All Lives, All Creatures”),
Sundiata really is a people's king and this just strengthens the theme of working for and not against the people you are ruling over.
Much better imo than the Shakespearean Birthright idea of him just being a good leader because he's the king's son.
awaiting the final blow with his dark magic. But then the ghostly lion ancestors themselves, led by Mansa Maghan, appear in the clouds and intervene to block his unholy powers. Without Soumaoro’s dark sorcery, Sundiata, despite his handicap, defeats the sorcerer-king, and drives him off a cliff, where the hyenas await to finish him off in a melee in the shadows.
Reminds me of the End of Brother Bear with the Ancestors coming to the rescue. Hoping this is as equally visually stunning.
We originally had Nounfari’s magic cause the S’ra branch to merge into Sundiata’s leg, healing him, similar to what happens in the original Malinke epic, but our disability advisors said that would send the wrong message. And they were right, because the disabled community still celebrates The Lion King as an empowering tale.
Yeah, that would be a cop out, it's better and more empowering to let him keep the crutch.
Suddenly we were the big Holiday Epic, and we were a hit of beyond-Aladdin-level success, breaking $400 million in North America alone, and $900 million worldwide! The Reggae-themed “Jamii Jamii” became one of the all-time Disney classic sings, as did the epic “The World Turns”.
And Disney surely needed it!
Congratulations.
[2] For the record I resisted the serious temptation to have Chris Rock voice the zebra, and then resisted the even darker temptation to have Will Smith’s Dankaran slap him. You’re welcome.
I applaud you for your self control
@Geekhis Khan and also for this beautiful chapter.
